Where to Get a Grilled Cheese... in Tokyo

There are grilled cheeses far and wide, for good reason. Many of them are good. Some, great. For April, Grilled Cheese Month, we'll be trying grilled cheeses from all over, and dispensing a little wisdom along the way.

Alongside deodorant and toothpaste, many ex-pats living in Japan moan about the lack of cheese on this side of the world. This means finding a grilled cheese is quite an undertaking. Tokyo's trendy Harajuku district is one of the only places in Japan with restaurants serving the sandwich, highlighted by Cafe Hohokam's Grilled Double Cheese. It features cheddar and mozzarella melted between crispy pieces of bread, but additional lettuce, tomato, and sauce detract a bit from the cheese flavor. (The fact that it's cut in three is not a quirk of Japanese culture, just of this restaurant.) Still, for a place where Velveeta would demand top dollar, Hohokam's sandwich is one of the best grilled cheeses in Tokyo.

Cheese: 8 out of 10

Texture: 7 out of 10

Originality: 4 out of 10

Intangible Grilled-Cheese Essence: 6 out of 10 (drop the vegetables and then we'd be talking)

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